Ten Slashes
by itachianimefan
Summary: Naruto thought life was boring, that is until he found out that his best friend Sasuke Uchiha was found murdered, with ten slashes. As the killings continue, Naruto is determined to find the one responsible, even if it involes his own life. Please R&R :P
1. Investigate

Ten slashes (revised version)

Yeah…sorry guys…about the REALLY long wait, but now its' revised so enjoy, you deserve it! Please note that I do not own Naruto. And this is an alternate universe. ^_^ I do not own Naruto…but hey it wouldn't be a bad thing if I did. ^_-

Preface:

Naruto looked through the window of the classroom. Already half an hour into class and he was sick of it. What good was History in the real world anyway? Sighing, he forced himself to glace at his notebook—not that there was anything to look at. Staring down at his binder paper, drawn on top of his ineligible jot notes were sketches of his own imagination. Proud of himself, he couldn't stop from grinning.

"Mr. Uzamaki, would you mind telling me what part of the bombing of WWII you find so amusing?" Naruto's teacher, Nakamura-sensei asked. As a few students bent over, snickering. Naruto scowled to himself for letting his concentration break, but it was so hard. History just didn't click. Naruto stood up and thought of an excuse.

"Sorry sensei," Naruto said slowly, carefully thinking of a sensible answer. "But…uh…." Naruto couldn't think of anything. Nakamura-sensei walked curtly towards Naruto.

"Naruto," She spoke with velvet like voice. "Please sit down and see me after class." As Naruto blinked, Nakamura-sensei walked towards her desk. Naruto slowly sat down. He huffed at his staring peers and looked outside once more. He was always getting into trouble, but how could he help it if he only had an attention span of ten minutes?

Naruto was an average kid. 15 and in grade 10. He had a 'cool' look as he wore the stylish fashion and his bright yellow hair shot up naturally. He attend all classes—no matter how boring they were, like history and he did extremely well in English—as for the rest of the subjects, he did satisfactory. But his best was never enough. He could never become better in the subjects and that's when art was introduced to him, well he found it by himself, but in a few weeks he noticed that art was one of his talents. And so he took refuge in art so that he did not have to look for protection in humans. Humans, as he knew could not be trusted as one day they were your best friend and another, they were backstabbing you. Naruto was always careful not to get too close to people, but with that, paid a price, a price of loneliness.

Naruto was now focused and looked back at his teacher. He opened his book and read what was ordered on the blackboard. The room was now dead silent. He skimmed the first line, but the words his brain translated turned into gibberish. He couldn't concentrate—it was too quiet. A buzzing noise from the silence was hurting him. Was this class ever going to end?

And then he heard it.

It was a noise everyone knew, the sound of a gun being fired. Naruto snapped around and glared towards the door. Nakamura-sensei, who was in shock managed to lock the door. Everyone knew this wasn't a fake drill. His classmates were beginning to panic. Fear rang through each of their voices. But the voices echoed through his head. He tried to understand it, but nothing made sense. Murmurs were in the hallway; a cry in pain and then it was quiet again. Everyone was too scared to move.

'_Well, I'm not.'_ Naruto thought and got up to move. Nakamura-sensei, who had back to her old self, stood in front of Naruto and shock her head. She creped to the phone, which was connected to the main office. "Hello?" she whispered. "I heard-" she began.

"Yes. Okay. They are? What? No! No! That's not-! Oh God!" she whispered, clearly mortified. She dropped the phone and made her way back to her desk. Police sirens could be heard outside of the school, but Naruto paid no attention to that. He walked directly to the teacher.

"Nakamura-sensei? What's wrong?" Naruto asked. He saw the fear dance through her eyes and the tears that were forming. Finally she looked up, shaking to Naruto and the rest of the class. "Sasuke Uchiha…has been…murdered."

Chapter 1: Investigate

Naruto stood there for a moment of two to try and get a hold to what his teacher was telling him. Sasuke…Sasuke Uchiha was DEAD?! Was she serious? Blinking Naruto thought to himself. 'No, it can't be…he was the best student in our grade…he was going to go to the best university…and…I…I was going to be his rival.'

"No…" Naruto gasped, with a horrified look on his face. He blinked and then dashed out into the hall.

"Naruto wait!" Nakamura-sensei called out, but Naruto was far away even from her yells. He angrily wiped the stupid tears from his eyes and ran on making his way to the science department. That was what Sasuke had during this time. He slowed down when he thought he saw something that looked like mud, shaking his head, he then realized it was blood, though it was darker because of it came from the arteries.

Damn.

It was bad.

Naruto moved closer, looking for Sasuke, looking for his body. But he couldn't find it. Damn it, where was his body?! Grinding his teeth he looked up to see a police officer of some sort looking down at him. He was wise, and the currently best-known police officer. His silver spiky hair hung casually over the right side, his arms were crossed and the navy mask that covered his face hide his emotions. Kakashi Hatake was his name.

"So…" He began, in a somewhat serious voice, but then again, that was another reason he was so well known. He was always cool, never too panicky.

"Where is he? Where's Sasuke!?" Naruto yelled out. Blinking, Kakashi studied the character in front of him. Naruto Uzamaki, the most bizarre person attending high school. He had a reputation of a poor, ill-mannered, snobbish kid that went his own way. He did things his own way. Sometimes with the rules, sometimes not. He was a peculiar kid and though many adults looked down on his, some thought that he might be one the brightest in a long time.

"Listen Naruto." Kakashi began. "Sasuke's body had to be taken away, to be investigated."

"I-I don't believe you! Why was he killed, who killed him?!" Naruto said, banging on Kakashi vest. "Damn it!"

"Hey…" Kakashi said grabbing Naruto's angry fists, "I know you're mad, he was your rivals, and rivals are very important in today's society…they, how shall you say, make you shine in a certain way. He was murdered, Naruto." Kakashi said quickly, avoiding the gaze of Naruto's teary eyes. "He was cut, ten times with a samurai sword. No one was there when it happened and I believe that his body was moved to the location of the school," Naruto looked up at him, gathering as much information as possible.

"According to the attendance, Sasuke was not present for period one science, as well, he was not present last night at his house. His parents thought that he was over at one of his friends, but when they called each one, no one knew where Sasuke was. We believe it may lead to his missing older brother, Itachi, who is a suspected member of the mafia group. We don't know very much, but that's all we do know." He ruffled Naruto's hair. "I—hey, Naruto. I know he was a close friend to you as well, though you never showed it, you admired Sasuke, but pretending to hate him, so that he would notice you. He was very popular and you weren't. The differences between you were great, but there were some things that were not so great. I guess. I've told you beyond what I should have, actually I don't think they told his parents this much. So I need to you be content. Go back to you're class and just leave it for the police to take care of."

Naruto stood there, and turned away. He wanted to say something to Kakashi, but he had no idea what. He just wanted to talk to someone who understood his pain, who didn't look at his as a bratty kid or a pest. But it was foolish just to stand there. Naruto began to shuffle along.

"Thanks, Kakashi. It helped to ease the pain and shock a little." Naruto whispered.

"No problem, just go." Kakashi said coolly. Naruto looked back and nodded then ran towards his classroom. Truth be told, he had no intentions of returning to history or Nakamura-sensei; he just went that way to make Kakashi believe he was okay. He was not okay. Sasuke was murdered and he himself was pretty sure it had to be connected to Itachi.

Itachi Uchiha.

That name seemed send Goosebumps across Naruto's arms. He was feared back in the day, even at school. IT was like there was always an evil aura around him. He talked very little to anyone, but excelled at everything. He was brilliant, yet untouchable and with the knowledge he had…he had to turn bad. He gave everything to the mafia. He was a disgrace to all the Uchiha's and it was especially hard to Sasuke. People's minds remain the same, judgmental about everything. They judged Sasuke before he had a chance to prove himself. They ignored him, shunned him and looked down on him. It wasn't until high school when people began to have a different view on Sasuke. He was considered cool as he himself disregarded his brother. As far as he was concerned, he was an only child. Could that be why Itachi would come out of his secret way and kill him? Could that really upset the mafia?

What the heck was he thinking? There were so many unanswered questions. But he knew that he was going to figure it out before the police would have a chance to. He knew Sasuke better than most people, which included his fan club. A perfect opportunity to show everyone his true colours. He reached the back door and pushed it open and continued to run into the small forest that backed onto the school. He leaned against a tree and allowed the cool air to fill his lungs. Where would he begin? Kakashi believe that Sasuke was dragged from somewhere else…but where. Not his home for sure…Sasuke was not there according to Kakashi and besides, the police would have it surrounded. Then…right…sometimes Sasuke went to the park, to clear his minds on things. He remembers following Sasuke late at night and watching him watching in the reflection of the pond in the middle of the park. He would often stay there for hours, probably clearing his mind of who knows what. It was like his sanctuary where no one would bother him. Naruto thought he should start there. Just when he was about to leave he heard something behind him.

"Who's there?" Naruto barked. This was no time for hide and seek. Slowly, Shikamuru, one of his classmates, emerged.

"What-" Naruto began.

"I'm here to help you, you see, I have some connections with Sasuke as well."


	2. More?

Ten slashes (revised version)

Yeah…sorry guys…about the REALLY long wait, but now its' revised so enjoy, you deserve it! Please note that I do not own Naruto. And this is an alternate universe. ^_^ I do not own Naruto…but hey it wouldn't be a bad thing if I did. ^_-

Chapter 2: More?

"What are you doing here, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, with a bit of annoyance in his voice. "What do you mean, you want to help too? You hardly ever talked to him!" Arms crossed and propped up against at tree Shikamaru remained calm as ever.

"That's my own business, besides it would be nice if you had help as well wouldn't it?" He tried to convince Naruto. Banging his had hard against the nearest tree Naruto yelled at Shikamaru.

"No! It wouldn't be! I don't want any help! I want to find the person responsible for Sasuke's death myself! It's not about fame, Sasuke was my friend and he didn't deserve to die. I can't believe he did this! I'm going to kill him!" Naruto looked away.

"I presume the 'him' is Itachi?" Shikamaru said. Naruto stopped and turned to look at Shikamaru, just what was he thinking?

"What?" Naruto said. Shikamaru walked closer to Naruto.

"You think the person who killed him was his older brother Itachi. Like many people know, Itachi is suspected of being involved with the mafia. However, I believe otherwise. I don't believe Itachi had anything to do with this, infact, I'm almost sure someone is trying to make it look like Itachi did this to him. I believe that the…wait, in order to tell you what I think, wouldn't it be better if I knew if you're going to work with me or not?"

"…No! I work alone! Besides you don't have any evidence of anything that you said. It was Itachi, there's not question about it, and I don't need your help. Just beat it!" Naruto said and ran off. He thought he heard him reply, 'fine by me,' which only made Naruto angrier than he was, but he continued to run off. It was Itachi; there was no question about it. That's the reason he joined the mafia, that's the reason he killed Sasuke. It wasn't because of a reason, that's just what the mafia did. Killed for no reason. Family meant nothing. Just about to leave the school grounds, something big and hard hit him in the chest, forced all the air out of him and smashed him against the tree. Naruto reached out helplessly, but his arms gripped nothing. He landed twenty feet away. Breathing in hard and catching his breath he looked up to see a police officer, but not any police officer. Again, like Kakashi, one of the best.

Tsunade.

Damn.

What did she want? Naruto hated her strength and cockiness she always had about her.

"Going somewhere young brat." She said, smiling and pointing a finger at him.

"What's it to you?" Naruto snapped back.

"Hm…well well aren't you a ferocious young beast. Perhaps you're running away from the scene of the crime?" She asked. Grinding his teeth Naruto answered back.

"Sasuske's body is moved, what good is it to me? I need to seek revenge for him!" Naruto yelled and decided that he spoke enough, what was she going to understand anyway. Disappointment ran through her eyes.

"Stupid boy, not Sasuke." She said. Naruto blinked, was she playing games here or what?

"Well who else then, you stupid woman. Do you want to play guessing games or what?" Naruto barked.

"Hey you don't speak that way to me!" She yelled and brushed he shiny badge on her chest. Naruto craved to punch her back, for what she did to him. She walked closer to him and Naruto got back to his feet. His stomach muscle was screaming to him. Jeez, for a woman, she sure knew where to punch. This was going to be sore for a few days.

"Now what?" Naruto said with annoyance.

"Fool, Sasuke is old, the recent death happened no more than two minutes ago." She explained to him. She looked deeply into his eyes and saw that shock filled them. Either he didn't have a clue (which made his not guilty) or he was a very good actor. But from what she knew, Naruto was not the type to act. He always showed his emotions, whether they were good or bad. She smirked and then looked away.

"All right, you're not guilty, but you have to come with me. I don't want any resistance, got that? If you do, I'll give you another one of those punches." Tsuande explained and turned her head so that her blonde ponytail would swish in the wind. Naruto walked closer to her.

"Who's dead now?" He asked. He was hoping it wasn't another student. He just went through another shock. Tsunade looked at him, with pain in her eyes.

"Gaara. He was founded Slashed." She replied and then walked away. Naruto stood frozen. Gaara was another kid he came to like over the years. At first he always wanted to fight someone, which was similar to whom Naruto would have done too, but after talking with him (and fighting), he realized that Gaara wasn't so bad and Gaara learned how to be gentler. Gaara was someone who wouldn't talk to people so much, which may be why people were drawn to him. He had an older sister and brother, Temari and Kankuro. They were in grade 10 and 11. It would be a pretty bad shock for them as well. Naruto thought back. Could Itachi really have done all this? And then he remembered Shikamaru's words, 'someone is trying to make Itachi the suspect.'

Shikamaru.

Where was he?

Naruto turned to Tsunade who was a good distance away.

"Hey Tsunade!" Naruto yelled and ran after her, back to the school. She turned, somewhat annoyed and somewhat sad. When Naruto got close, he could tell that she was crying, though she tried to act tough.

"What?" She said more quickly than before.

"Did you see anyone else in the forest?" Naruto asked. Perhaps she saw Shikamaru. However Tsunade shock her head and was puzzled.

"Why?" She asked. Seeing no reason to confuse her, Naruto just shock his head. "Just wondering, the killer could still be lurking around." She stopped walking and turned to him.

"Listen, I shouldn't be telling you this, but it appears that Gaara's body was murdered almost the same time as Sasuke's and that both bodies were transported to the school." She looked away when she saw Naruto's angry eyes.

"So that means it a one person killer." Naruto said. Tsunade bowed her head. "It appears so." She replied and then continued to walk. "Hurry up." She said, without looking back. Clenching his fists Naruto thought about everything while he walked. Why would someone do this to them? To kids that didn't do anything? Why? When Naruto puzzled all this and a burning rage filled his chest he looked up to the forest trees. He quickly blinked again and was about to say something, but thought better of it. Naruto looked and saw that nothing was there now. Just the tree leaves as they blew innocently through the calm wind. But Naruto knew he had seen something. Something that made him think he was dealing with much more than he was thinking. Much more than the mafia. For when he looked up, he saw the image of Sasuke Uchiha.

_Please leave a review, even if you didn't like it! It's good to hear feedback! Thank you for reading and I hope you will continue to read. I'll try to update soon, but before I know it, soon may be in a few months. However, I'll try to finish this story fast. Thanks once again. _

_-Itachianimefan :P _


	3. Clones

I don't own Naruto…I know, we all want too….

Chapter 3: Clones?

Naruto blinked. If he just saw Sasuke…does that mean someone faked his death? But why and more importantly, how? To fake a death is one thing and then to produce a fake body as well? Just what exactly was happening? Following Tsunade, Naruto stopped and looked back. Tsunade having superb hearing skills also turned. Naruto didn't look at her.

"What's wrong now?" She said wearily but stern. Naruto looked at her and hated the fact that she always had to act tough.

"If you're going to cry, then do it now." He shot back at her.

"Excuse me?" She said in a menacing tone.

"You heard me, or are you deaf?" Naruto spat back.

"Not that you brat, what are you looking at? A fallen angel or something?" She asked, annoyed at the kid with the attitude standing in front of her. Naruto looked back up. The forest behind the school was thick, with practically every types of tree in that climate growing. There were all different heights as many of them were planted at different times. As well as that, there were tiny shrubs, mostly with berries that covered the undergrowth and sometimes little flowers had the courage to push through all the undergrowth. Naruto hated school, but he had to admit, the school's forest was truly wonderful. He glanced back casually at Tsunade who stood with her arms crossed and her right foot tapping constantly on the ground.

"Young man," She began walking towards him, and that's when Naruto began to run. He didn't turn back to look, though he did hear her yell something. The wind was rushing against his ears that the words did not make sense. Overall, he was a fast runner. He had been doing it all his life. Always running away from someone and that was the life of a rebel. Someone who lived on the streets, such as himself, who really couldn't find a place to actually call 'home'. Purging deeper into the forest, Naruto didn't stop running, though his pace had slowed down due to the thickness of the vegetation. Naruto was constantly looking out for low hanging branches, or hidden tree roots and such. He didn't want himself tripping only to be caught again by Tsunade, whom was sure to pursue him. Actually, he was sure she was pursuing him now. She wasn't the type of officer to let something like this slip by her.

Turning sharply to the left of him, he was hidden behind two gist tree trunks. Looking at them briefly he made a mental note that they were some type of deciduous tree. He looked back the path he had come and realized that he left trail behind him. To an average person walking in the woods, the trail would stay unnoticed, but to that of the police force, the trail was like putting up a flag saying 'I'm here'. Angry with himself, Naruto stripped his shoes off. He was contemplating on whether to also take off his socks, but suddenly realizing that even with his socks on the ground was cold, he left them on.

It was fall, though the air was still warm as well as the surrounding bodies of water; however the land itself began to lose its warmth as Naruto soon found out while creeping through the forest. The soil was damp and moist against the cloth of his socks and he had to stop sometimes to remove some of the mud accumulating on his socks. He was no longer running, but kept his ears on alert. Any rustling of leaves or a snap of a branch made him turn and scan the landscape. The school was no longer visible. The trees did an excellent job on concealing everything from the outside world, including most of the sun's light. Naruto zipped the rest of his jacket in the dark and pursued deeper into the woods.

Typically he wasn't afraid of the woods. He had been in here countless of times to find solitude. The forest was quiet and whenever he needed to clear his thoughts, he would come here. He stopped and leaned against the nearest tree, trying to clear his thoughts now. What really was happening? Was Sasuke dead or not? Of course he didn't was Sasuke to be dead, but he wanted to know the truth. How else could he carry out his investigation? Perhaps both Kakashi and Tsunade were hiding some of the facts from him? Well, he wouldn't be surprised. First of all, he was shocked when they told him all that they did. Perhaps they just gave him some information to shut him up, like most adults did. And what about Shikimaru? What was his problem? Naruto squatted down and bit his nail. This was going to be harder than it already has become. He needed come up with a better plan. Naruto knew some things and they were that the police didn't know everything about Sasuke. His parents only knew so much to give the police some background information. However, he knew much more about him. That was his advantage. He should start at the park, where Sasuke would spend some of his time. He knew that he also had to be extra careful; surely the police might suspect that he had something to do with the murders as he left the scene of the crime and no doubt, they'd be looking for him as well. Going to the park was risky, there weren't as many trees as the forest as well as that, it was only two block from Sasuke's house. Oh well, it was a start.

"Hey." Said a voice dully. Naruto almost yelled out in surprised, but clamped his mouth shut. He just fell over from the shock. He looked up, though only a silhouette was shown because of the lack of light. However, he knew who the voice belonged to.

"Couldn't you know, make some noise before scaring me?" Naruto said sharply. "I told you before, I don't want to work with you, Shikamaru." He said more coolly than he expected.

"Yeah I know, but I think that we'd make a better team than working solo. Besides, I already know that the police will soon be making a move. Don't you want to find the truth before they do?" he asked in the same dull voice. Naruto pondered all this. In the essence of truth, he did, but…that would mean he would have to share his information to Shikamaru and he didn't trust him. Moreover, he didn't trust anyone. He felt safer when he could only depend on himself only. But…there was a chance that if he teamed up with Shikamaru, he could discover the secret faster. A risk, there was always a risk. Naruto looked up at the shadow.

"Fine, but I want you to answer a few questions first." He answered back. Shikamaru also leaned against the tree beside Naruto's. He laughed gently.

"It's to see if I'm on your side?" He asked back. Naruto blinked. This guy was smarter than he thought.

"Yes." Naruto answered back. He figured that he should be honest with him, if he was going to join sides with him. He just hoped that he would return the honesty.

"Fine," He said coolly, "ask away." He crossed his arms and waited.

"How did you find me?" He said. "If you can find me, then they can."

"Ah, I assume that when you say 'they'-" He began.

"I mean the police." He answered.

"Right." Shikamaru said. "Well I doubted that they would find us." He assured. "I found you by scent."

"Scent? What are you a dog?" Naruto demanded. Shikamaru leaned off his tree and turned his back from Naruto. Naruto blinked. This guy was not only smart, but he was weird. Suddenly, a deer was beside him.

"I use them, I have some special connection with them you see and though most people don't know it, they are very good trackers. More importantly, I would like to point out that the police also have dogs, so they could easily get the same result. My suspicion is that they are waiting and watching us to see what we would do. The reason is that we were Sasuke's classmates and we would know stuff about him that his parents wouldn't." Shikamaru explained in the same dullness. Why did he always act like he was bored? However, Naruto never thought about the police using dogs and sine Shikamaru brought that to his attention, he knew that creeping around not making any noise wouldn't make a difference. Shikamaru patted the deer and the deer left them, being swallowed by darkness. He then looked at Naruto.

"You probably had a plan, or a place to go, somewhere where the police haven't been because they don't know. I recommend that we dispose of that plan." He advised.

"Then, what do we do?" Naruto asked. Despite being dark, Naruto could see that Shikamaru's mouth twisted slowly into a smile. A smile that didn't mean happiness, a smile that meant what was coming up would be dangerous. A smile that meant to him, it was going to be a fun game of chess. It was all a race of time and even Naruto knew it.

"What do we do?" Shikamaru repeated, in a voice filled with excitement. "We lead them astray of course and then set a trap for them."

"A trap?" Naruto asked perplexed.

"Yes." Shikamaru replied. He seemed to finally release his real feelings for this investigation. "A trap they will never forget."

_Please leave a review, even if you didn't like it! It's good to hear feedback! Thank you for reading and I hope you will continue to read. I'll try to update soon, but before I know it, 'soon' may be in a few months. However, I'll try to finish this story fast. Thanks once again. _

_-Itachianimefan :P _


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